Timchenko took the "golden ear". Why did Gennady Timchenko start the restaurant business in the capital?
Shareholders of the online retailer Yulmart are ready to amicably resolve the conflict. The Euroset and Svyaznoy salons will be managed by a company co-founded by Megafon and the co-owners of Svyaznoy. Igor Kozhin, the son of the former chief administrative officer of the President of the Russian Federation, plans to build five ice arenas in Moscow. The Massandra company will produce champagne under its own brand. Saudi Aramco will sell a $2 billion government bond issue.
retail Yulmart was given a chance
The conflict between the shareholders of one of the largest Russian online retailers, Yulmart, which flared up in 2016 (see Profile No. 8 of March 6, 2017), will probably be resolved in the near future. Two shareholders, Dmitry Kostygin and August Meyer, own 61.5% of the shares of Ulmart's parent structure, Ulmart Holding Limited. According to Kostygin, a framework agreement was concluded between them and the third shareholder of Yulmart, Mikhail Vasinkevich (38.5%), under which the company will buy his stake. In order to pay for Vasinkevich’s share, as Kostygin said, “it will be necessary to add money to the company, there will be an additional issue, and shares will be purchased from it.” According to the General Director of Infoline Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov, the stake in Yulmart owned by Vasinkevich is worth about 5.8–7.7 billion rubles, and the entire Yulmart minus debt is 15–20 billion rubles. According to the framework agreement between the shareholders, a payment schedule has been established. Some part of the amount will be paid “as a settlement with the banks,” and the rest of the money will be paid after Yulmart reaches “certain indicators in 2017–2018.” Moreover, by mid-April, a binding agreement may be signed, and the buyout could be completed in June. The retailer's debt to creditors, according to Dmitry Kostygin, reached about 4 billion rubles, of which 2.4 billion rubles. – debt to Sberbank.
development Kozhin Jr. takes to the ice
Igor Kozhin wants to build five ice arenas in Moscow. The 31-year-old son of the former manager of the affairs of the President of the Russian Federation, first vice-president of the Russian Olympic Committee, Vladimir Kozhin, recently registered the company Ice Arenas LLC with an authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles. For now he is its sole owner. Later, Igor Kozhin plans to attract partners to the project. Borrowed funds will be used to finance the project, the payback period is 7–8 years. Investments in arenas with stands for 200–300 spectators, several hockey rinks, gyms and other premises, according to Kozhin Jr.’s estimates, should amount to 200–300 million for each site, in total this is over 1 billion rubles. According to him, the project is designed to support and develop amateur sports. He himself also plays hockey with his friends. According to the publication “Business Petersburg” (2016), Igor Kozhin’s personal fortune is estimated at 6.4 billion rubles.
retail Connected by one network
The creation of a company that will simultaneously manage the Euroset and Svyaznoy salons is being discussed. Its name is still unknown, and the co-founders will be Megafon and co-owners of Svyaznoy. Initially, the company being created will manage about 5 thousand salons. Of these, about 2.7 thousand are Svyaznoy stores and more than 2 thousand are Euroset. Later, the number of salons may increase to 6 thousand. The creation of a new company will be possible after the deal to divide Euroset between its shareholders - VimpelCom and Megafon, each of which has 50%. This deal is expected to be completed by early next year. As part of this, Megafon is ready to buy half of Euroset from VimpelCom, bringing its stake to 100%. The debt of Euroset (at the end of 2016 - about 9 billion rubles) will be transferred to Megafon. VimpelCom will get the lease rights to 2 thousand Euroset showrooms, which will be turned into its mono-brand retail. VimpelCom will also pay Megafon 1.25 billion rubles. against Euroset's debt.
winemaking Massandra is now also champagne
The Massandra company, which is controlled by the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, plans to release champagne under its own brand for the first time in its history. A special type of sparkling wine - pearl, made from white Muscat grapes - is still ripening at the Massandra winery in Gurzuf. In the spring of 2017, the Sevastopol winery will begin producing champagne under the Massandra brand. The plant will produce sparkling wine– semi-sweet white and rose, muscat and brut. Massandra is the first enterprise in the country to receive a license to produce wine with a protected geographical indication.
tek And in the desert money does not sleep
Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company in terms of oil production and the size of oil reserves, the national oil enterprise of Saudi Arabia, will sell the first ever issue of government bonds worth about $2 billion. The local regulator has approved the deal. Islamic bonds, or sukuk (the Islamic equivalent of bonds that provide a non-guaranteed return from the profits of the event being financed), provide investors with a fixed income while circumventing the Muslim ban on usury. According to the Financial Times, this is not the first financial bond issue undertaken by Saudi Aramco, but the sale of sukuk will be the first time. According to Bloomberg, Saudi Aramco is selling bonds as the company plans to go public in 2018. Previously, almost $80 billion in bonds were issued in the Middle East and North Africa. In October last year, the “debut placement of bonds of the government of Saudi Arabia” was held. It raised $17.5 billion into Saudi Arabia and became the largest bond sale in the history of emerging markets.
catering business"Golden Ear" Timchenko
Gennady Timchenko will have a restaurant in Moscow. Company LLC Main restaurant VSKHV" (according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, 100% owned by Gennady Timchenko's Volga Group) rented the building at the end of last year former restaurant“Golden Ear” at VDNKh for a period of 49 years. The establishment's profile cannot be changed during the entire rental period. “Golden Ear” is one of the most famous metropolitan restaurants of the USSR era. At the end of the 1980s it was closed for reconstruction, after which it never reopened. The building in the Stalinist Empire style was used as a warehouse for a long time. After restoration, the historical appearance of the main facade will be preserved. Nothing is known yet about the concept of the future restaurant. A source close to Timchenko said that dishes from Russian products will prevail on the menu. According to the owner of Restconsult, Sergei Mironov, Timchenko’s company will invest 300 million rubles in the project.
The Golden Ear restaurant, one of the most prestigious objects of Soviet catering, has finally found an owner after many years of decay. It was the owner of the Volga Group, Gennady Timchenko, who had not previously been seen in the restaurant business. After seven years of reconstruction, the establishment will begin feeding visitors dishes made from domestically produced products.
Gennady Timchenko. Photo: website of the President of Russia
The building of the former restaurant, located in the farthest part of VDNKh, was leased for 49 years by LLC "Main Restaurant of the All-Russian Agricultural Exhibition", 100% owned by Timchenko. As Vedomosti reports, citing a representative of the entrepreneur, the main facade of the building with classical Roman columns, which is a cultural heritage site of federal significance, will be completely preserved.
In Soviet times, it was one of the largest restaurants in the capital, accommodating about 1,000 visitors. As a rule, all foreign tourist groups’ walks around VDNKh ended here. Soviet citizens entered the Golden Ear using tickets that had to be purchased in advance. Like all foreign tourist establishments, the restaurant was a very prestigious place.
However, today, after many years of neglect, restoration of the restaurant will require considerable expenses. According to MosgorBTI, in 2006 the building was depreciated at 54%. According to the owner of Restconsult, Sergei Mironov, investments in the project can reach 300 million rubles.
According to Timchenko's representative, the building will be used as a restaurant for the entire lease term. He did not say anything about the concept of the establishment, but the menu will focus on dishes made from domestic products. It will also have a designated area for the presentation of products from Russian manufacturers, the newspaper writes.
The capital's authorities have long wanted to revive the Golden Ear, which, having closed for modernization in the late 80s of the last century, never reopened. The work lasted about 10 years, then it was used as a warehouse. Today the building is in a very dilapidated condition, no renovation work is being carried out.
In the summer of 2014, in connection with the beginning of the reconstruction of VDNKh, the authorities turned their attention to the Golden Ear, but they could not find an investor. In 2015, the building was put up for auction, but it did not take place. After this, the building was transferred to VDNKh, which was supposed to find a suitable investor.
The capital's restaurateurs showed no great desire to restore the former object of prestige. In particular, a proposal to rent and reconstruct a historic restaurant came to Arkady Novikov, who opened many famous metropolitan restaurants. However, he refused. “Now is not the time for such projects,” he said, noting that the object is very large in the Stalinist Empire style. In any case, it would require a lot of redevelopment and reconstruction.
Sergei Mironov draws attention to a number of points. Firstly, the building is located in the far corner of the exhibition area, and the ability to drive to it by car is extremely important. The entrance and parking will allow you to place a business class restaurant here; without them, only economy class is possible. The best solution could be the unification under one roof of several establishments of different formats.
In addition, VDNH is open only in the summer, and the restaurant building was built with this in mind.
Gennady Timchenko will feed Muscovites. The billionaire intends to open a restaurant at VDNKh; for this purpose, he leased the building of the former Golden Ear restaurant for 49 years. Under the terms of the agreement, the purpose of the facility must remain the same.
Why does Gennady Timchenko need this business, and what will be the concept of the establishment?
The emphasis will be on Russian products and National dishes, Timchenko’s representative Anton Kurevin told Kommersant FM.
“The facility is in a fairly neglected state. Serious investments will be required in order to return it to its original appearance. Our plan includes about seven years to reconstruct the building and open a restaurant in it. According to the preliminary concept, we think that this will be a restaurant that will focus on offering its visitors dishes of national, domestic cuisine,” he said. “In addition, given the large scale of the premises, we think that it will be possible to build an exhibition area in order to hold all kinds of exhibition events related to the promotion of nationally produced goods.”
"Golden Ear" in Soviet times was considered a prestigious restaurant. The VDNKh website states that visitors were booked six months in advance. In the late 1980s, the facility was closed for modernization, but a full renovation was never carried out. Until recently, the premises were used as a warehouse. Restaurateur Arkady Novikov said that he is not sure of the economic feasibility of the project.
“I worked in this building. It is pompous, large, huge, complex, with an area of 3 thousand square meters. m. A lot of money needs to be invested there, and it is not clear how effective it will be. Therefore, at one time I abandoned the idea of restoring a restaurant there. Besides, the building is located to the side,” he said. - It is quite possible that even several good projects can be done there. Timchenko is a smart person. I think that if he does something, then he is sure that he is doing it right. Moreover, he has experience working with restaurateurs.”
For several years, the Moscow authorities could not find an investor who would undertake the reconstruction of the restaurant at VDNKh. Gennady Timchenko did this largely on his own initiative, his representative noted. For a billionaire, this is, rather, not a business project, but a contribution to the development of urban infrastructure. Director of the National Energy Security Fund Konstantin Simonov believes that in this way Timchenko can build relations with the Moscow government.
“Moscow is currently implementing an extremely ambitious program for the construction of new residential areas on the site of Khrushchev-era buildings. Gennady Timchenko also has assets close to this industry. The project is so large-scale that I do not exclude Timchenko’s presence and interests there. Let's see what the ambitions of the Moscow mayor will be. There is quite a heated battle going on in the country for the post of prime minister. Sobyanin could well be one of the candidates for this place. So the businessman is now implementing a project in partnership with the Moscow mayor’s office. This is a completely logical economic alliance, and, possibly, political relations,” the expert noted.
Gennady Timchenko owns the investment company Volga Group, through which he owns shares in Novatek and Sibur. Experts call Timchenko a wide-ranging investor. Forbes estimates the businessman's fortune at $16 billion, and over the year his capital increased by 40%.
